I received a "young person"-targeted direct mail piece today from Woody Myers that is more an Obama GOTV piece than an ad for himself. The piece captures the euphoria of Obama-mania, stating, "Something special is happening. We're lucky to be part of it."
The text points out that Woody served as a healthcare advisor for Obama when his campaign was "a longshot," and the mailer also notes that "for far too long, politicians in this country ignored anyone under 45."
As most people know, Obama endorsed Carson, so this Myers' damage control.
Don't you wonder, though, who Obama would have endorsed had Carson NOT been a superdelegate. I say this because Myers contributed the federally-allowed limit of $4,600 at the infancy of Obama's campaign in addition to joining it. That pretty much let us know where he stood.
In contrast, Carson wouldn't even say who he favored until the day he got Obama's endorsement. As I've blogged before, I was extremely irked when Carson was asked during the pre-special election debate who he supported in the D primary, and he said, "I'm just trying to get through the special election." It struck me as too cowardly to play coy.
But there are two sides to this story. While we may all want our candidates to speak candidly about about who they support, had Carson supported Obama publicly earlier, he might have not have gotten the Obama endorsement. In fact, I'd say with almost certainty that Carson's shrewd delay tactic made this endorsement happen. After all, what national candidate in his or her right mind wants to get mired in local politics? And who else has Obama endorsed in a hotly-contested primary anywhere?
A lot of us might hold our noses when people ask, "What's in it for me?" But by doing so here, Carson was a savvy negotiator, and he got what he needed to get. If he does the same in securing the interests of Indianapolis, he might end up being a chip off the old block after all.
But to all the Obama supporters out there, wouldn't you have liked to see a candidate who says, "Damn the consequences. I'm doing this because Obama is right for America?!?!" Now that would be a CHANGE in Washington.
5 comments:
the interesting thing is that when Woody Myers contributed to Obama, he is his address on the federal disclosure form as his California address where his wife still lives. I wonder if, in the very unlikely event he got elected, if he would represent Indiana or California.
Dr. Myers supported Obama when Obama was polling in the mid-teens. He did support and advise Obama from the start.
"the interesting thing is that when Woody Myers contributed to Obama, he is his California address. I wonder if, in the very unlikely event he got elected, if he would represent Indiana or California."
Since Carson is accepting hundreds of thousands of PAC dollars from Florida and other states, "I wonder if, in the very unlikely event he got elected, if he would represent Indiana or out of state groups."
Woody could care less about the voters of the 7 congressional district. He is here to get a seat for the Californians and Wellpoint.
Here's a critical addendum to the critique of Congressman Carson that I only learned after I went to work for him. What I saw as cowardly, was just typical Carson political game smarts. My recollection was that Congressman Carson had a pretty strong lean early on where he would end up, but he wasn't going to hand it over for free, in particular, when Clinton's people were trying to woo him. It was only holding on an endorsement that got him a reciprocal endorsement from Obama, as well as top-tier dais time when Obama came into Indiana. While it's true that early supporters build the ship, looking back now, I see this analysis as supremely naive. Embarrassing, but I have to own it.
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